Hypofriend: The smart way to buy your German home

Buying a house and getting a mortgage in Germany can be complex and off-putting. Not ideal considering that it is probably the most important financial decision you will ever make – and one that can bring you a lot of financial security.

Hypofriend knows where you’re coming from. The expats who started Hypofriend set out to make the mortgage decision not only as simple as possible, but also as smart as possible. Their team of experienced German brokers has now helped hundreds of customers like you buy their dream home.

6 key steps to buying your own home in Germany

If you’re thinking of taking the plunge into property, Hypofriend can help you as well – with these six simple steps.

Step 1: Deciding whether to rent or buy

First things first, you need to find out whether buying a house makes financial sense for you. Hypofriend build their rent or buy calculator for exactly this purpose.

One key thing expats should know is that with Neubau (new build) properties you typically recoup your upfront costs within around two years, whereas with Altbau or existing builds it takes three to four years to break even. This is because Neubau properties are usually marketed directly without the high (up to 7%) real estate broker fees.   

Step 2: Checking how much you can afford in Germany

The second step is to find out how much you can afford in Germany. This is easy using Hypofriend’s online affordability calculator. The smart calculator allows you to choose exactly how much income and capital you want to invest in your mortgage. It will also automatically check the mortgage criteria for hundreds of different banks to see who’s likely to lend to you.

Step 3: Finding your dream house

The third step is often the one that takes the most work: finding your home. It’ll probably be difficult, but you might also have a lot of fun! Either way, it pays to search thoroughly, as the German market is far from transparent. While there are plenty of resources out there for searching for properties, Hypofriend has its own property radar, which can provide you with a weekly update in your chosen price range.

Step 4: Reserving a property

Once you’ve found your ideal home, the fourth step is to reserve it and pay the 0,5 - 1% reservation fee. However, before you pay anything, your Hypofriend mortgage advisor can run the valuation through their price evaluation systems to see if banks will accept it. They can also prequalify you, giving you an advantage over other bidders and ensuring you don’t lose your reservation fee.  

Step 5: Finding the right mortgage for you

The fifth step is possibly the most crucial one. Choosing the wrong mortgage product can create unnecessary worries about interest rates and mortgage repayments in future.

Hypofriend’s intelligent recommendation engine looks at your income projections, makes interest rate projections, and runs break even calculations using special algorithms. While many mortgage advisors immediately jump into finding the lowest rate, Hypofriend uses proprietary technology to find you the optimal mortgage for your situation. 

Step 6: Securing the lowest cost mortgage

Once you know which product best suits your situation, the final step is to find and secure the lowest rate for that mortgage product. Hypofriend is integrated with every major German lender, allowing them to choose among more than 400 banks in Germany to find you the best rates for your optimal mortgage.

Your advisor will apply for you and take care of all the paperwork. No need to worry, as Hypofriend also handles all the communication with the bank to ensure you are quickly approved.

Enjoy your home

From there, all you need to do is sign some documents and pay property purchase taxes, and then the keys are yours. Time to enjoy your new home!